Editing Thomas Moore (section)

===Debt exile, last meeting with Byron===
In 1818, it was discovered that the man Moore had appointed his deputy in Bermuda had embezzled 6,000 [[pounds sterling]], a large sum for which Moore was liable. To escape [[debtor's prison]], in September 1819, Moore left for France, travelling with [[John Russell, 1st Earl Russell|Lord John Russell]] (future Whig [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|prime minister]] and editor of Moore's journals and letters). In [[Venice]] in October, Moore saw Byron for the last time. Byron entrusted him with a manuscript for his memoirs, which, as his literary executor, Moore promised to have published after Byron's death.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Maurois |first1=André |author-link1=André Maurois |translator-last1=Miles |translator-first1=Hamish |year=1984 |orig-year=1930 |title=Byron |location=London |publisher=Constable |pages=331–332 |isbn=0-09-466010-7 }}</ref>

In Paris, Moore was joined by Bessy and the children. His social life was busy, often involving meetings with Irish and British and travellers such as [[Maria Edgeworth]] and [[William Wordsworth]]. However, his attempt to bridge the gulf in his connections between his exiled fellow countrymen and members of the British establishment was not always successful. In 1821, several emigres, prominent among them [[Myles Byrne]] (a veteran of [[Battle of Vinegar Hill|Vinegar Hill]] and of Napoleon's [[Irish Legion]]) refused to attend a [[Saint Patrick's Day|St Patrick's day]] dinner Moore had organised in Paris because of the presiding presence of Wellesley Pole Long, a nephew of the [[Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington|Duke of Wellington]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Thomas Moore – Irish Paris|url=http://www.irishmeninparis.org/composers-and-musicians/thomas-moore|access-date=23 March 2021|website=www.irishmeninparis.org}}</ref>

Once Moore learned the Bermuda debt had been partly cleared with the help of Lord Lansdowne (whom Moore repaid almost immediately by a draft on Longman, his publisher), the family, after more than a year, returned to Sloperton Cottage.